A former Grovetown Department of Public Safety officer recently indicted for sexual misconduct with a female inmate denied the charges at a Friday arraignment hearing.

Jon Eric Austin Stripling, 38, of Railroad Avenue in Grovetown, pled not guilty to three counts of sexual assault by a person with supervisory authorities and violation of oath by a public officer at the hearing in Evans.

A Columbia County grand jury indicted Stripling on July 16 and he turned himself in to authorities on July 23.

An investigation into an Appling home invasion was terminated Thursday after the victim refused to cooperate with authorities.

A married couple told deputies they were robbed by two men who held them at gunpoint in their home early Tuesday.

The couple, both 27, said they were sleeping at about 3 a.m. when two men forced open the front door of their White Oak Campground Road home. The men brandished handguns. Both were wearing gloves and one man wore a mask.

An Augusta teen was arrested Monday for threatening a local talk radio show host.

A 16-year-old was charged with making terroristic threats against WGAC host Austin Rhodes, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris.

Rhodes called authorities just before 11 p.m. Sunday because someone threatened him through Facebook. Rhodes said he’d recently discussed a drive-by shooting in Augusta on his radio show which sparked a conversation on his professional Facebook page, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

A three-car wreck in Evans killed one woman and injured two other people Tuesday afternoon.

The woman, 61-year-old Debra J. Garlington of Martinez, was pronounced dead at the scene on Washington Road, according to Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins.

Garlington’s Toyota sedan was in the inside eastbound lane west of Mullins Crossing shopping center at about 2:15 p.m., when she crossed the center lane, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Smith. The Toyota sideswiped and spun a westbound Lexus SUV driven by Suphap Groombridge, 47, of Evans.

A father and his two sons were face drug charges after authorities found drugs and marijuana plants in their Evans home Wednesday.

Columbia County authorities executed a search warrant at the home of Duane Edward Houk, 54, at 4752 Mahoney Drive in Evans at about 5 p.m. They found 28.35 grams of marijuana and Adderall and Methadone pills in a bedroom, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris. In another bedroom, authorities found nearly a dozen marijuana plants in a closet with a security system.

Police are trying to identify a man they say stole eyeglasses from a Martinez store in mid-May.

The manager of 1 Hour Optical on Bobby Jones Expressway called authorities on May 21 to report someone stole items including a $191 pair of eyeglass frames on May 16. The manager said employees initially thought the incident was a miscalculation in inventory until store surveillance video footage showed a man select the frames and leave the store with them at about 12:40 p.m.

Columbia County authorities are looking for the driver of a truck that damaged the fields at Harlem High School last week.

The video surveillance system at the school on Appling-Harlem Highway caught images of a dark-colored Dodge Ram that drove on the softball and practice football fields just after 2 a.m. on May 23. It appears the truck driver did doughnuts on the fields causing an estimated $1,150 in damages.